Valentines Outfit Inspiration

I'm not your average girly-girl, but I do enjoy the idea of Valentines. It might be the copious use of the colour red, the velvet, the roses or the cheesy cards in Arnotts, but I adore it. 

I created an inspiration board for you guys to show you two ways to style a Valentines-appropriate dress, be it for a dressy event, or a casual bite to eat after college! 

On the left, there is a selection of dressy, yet still rocker-chic accessories and options, complete with an Alexander McQueen clutch. On the right is a more casual, very "me" college outfit that is still appropriate for a casual dinner. The Doc Martens are very me indeed! You could of course pair either option with opaque black tights for added warmth. 

To complete the dressy look you may opt for a fitted blazer to draw added interest to the outfit. On the other hand, a more casual look would be better suited to a chunky bat-wing cardi in wither black or red, the choice is yours!! Neither would be complete without my trademark red lips, though! 

What do you think of these options? Drop me a comment and let me know! :D Happy Valentines Day 

xxx

#SBBC Filler Post Day 23: It's Finally Autumn!!

Today I wasn't really feeling either topic for the September Beauty Blog challenge, so I decided to use a filler post I had sitting around! Hopefully nobody decides to lynch me for my choice!

How many of you would say your favorite time of year is Spring/Summer? My guess is a lot. I however, fall into that minority of people who love Autumn and Winter. I adore this time of year. While I don't care terribly for Hallowe'en or Christmas, I cant get enough of the weather, the atmosphere in the run up to Christmas, the weather and the wardrobe.

Before I get into this, it's important to mention that bold lip colours look better on smooth lips, so I recommend you invest in a lip scrub, like my Bubblegum Lip Scrub from Lush (€6/7.99) and a good lip balm, like Carmx or Blistex Daily Lip Conditioner. These will give you the best base possible for your bold Autumn shades!

I have been stocking up on Autumn lip products in the last few weeks, so I'm going to give you a run down of what I will be rocking until at least next January!!



Revlon:

Crush

Revlons Kissable Balm Stains are perfect for Autumn and Winter wear as they are hydrating and have a decent wear time. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to rock an Autumnal lip but would also like the options of going sheer or building up the color intensity.

• Crush 005 has been a faithful companion of mine during the last year, and it's so fall appropriate!
  
  
  It's a beautiful reddish-purple berry color that can be worn sheer, or built up to a more opaque, full coverage.
  

  

  Romantic

• Romantic 045 is a very new purchase, but I bought it because its a sheer red tone that makes your lips look as though you have just bitten them! Again you can build the intensity up to suit your needs, be it for daytime or nighttime wear.
  
  This one will easily be a Festive Favorite come December!
  
• Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet 040. I am in love with this Lip Butter.

  

  Red Velvet

  
  
  It couldn't be more Autumnal but it is also festive so will see me through to Christmas with ease! As with the Kissable Balm Stains, the Colorburst Lip Butters are pigmented and hydrating, providing beautiful color with ultimate comfort.

€11.20 in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Maybelline:

24hr Absolute Plum

• Super Stay 24hr Lip Colors are my "Go To" for when I'm visiting Chris, because they do exactly what they say on the tube. The staying power on these babies is in-credible!! I don't know why I don't have more of these guys knocking about in my lipstick basket, to be quite honest! My Autumn shade is 340 Absolute Plum. It's a gorgeous purple with a red undertone. It pretty much looks like the inside of a ripe plum. Yummy! 

€13.99 (approx) in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Midnight Plum

• Color Sensational in 338 Midnight Plum is a gorgeous shimmering purple shade, that goes on quite sheer. This would be good if you were nervous about rocking an opaque purple lip as you ease yourself into Autumn and Winter. I like!

 €9.99 (approx) in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Catrice:

Love's Di-Wine

• Ultimate Shine Gel Lip Colour in 010 Love's Di-Wine is a beautiful, high gloss lipstick in a sheer red berry shade.
  
   If you were trying to rock a Lily Collins-esque, glam red carpet look, then look no further! Catrice Lipsticks have fabulous staying power and this is no exception! This particular shade is heralded as a dupe for Nars Flamenco, if that tickles your pickle!

• Ultimate Colour in 160 Tell Me A Berry-Tale (discontinued).
  
  I feel like a right tease for including this but I picked this up at the end of spring, before The Great Gatsby was released, and I think its a perfect Autumnal, deep purple berry colour. I can't get over it. It's so bold but somehow muted, suiting a glam, understated night look perfectly. 

• Ultimate Colour in 270 Matt-Erial Girl. I have received so many compliments on this shade that it makes my head spin.
  
  This is probably the brightest of all the lipsticks featured, but its beautiful and fun for the coming season. I've actually fallen so hard for this I've bought extra tubes for when Catrice inevitable discontinue it. 

• Ultimate Colour in 220 Step Red Up. Finally we have a red lip! Finally!!
  This lipstick is a very vampy red, so tread lightly. As with all of the Ultimate Colour range, it's seriously pigmented and opaque, so not for the faint of heart. This would be stunning at a Christmas party with a simple eye look and your classic LBD. 

All Catrice lipsticks are €4.49 in Penneys and Chemists nationwide.

My personal favorites of all of these picks, would have to be the Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet, and the Catrice Ultimate Colour in Matt-Erial Girl. With that said though, I adore the whole list from top to bottom!

What do you think? Have you any recommendations for other brands I've missed out on? Drop me a comment down below! 

xxx Amy

June BBC Day 18: Favorite Make-Up Brand

Well, Girl Friday, you certainly set a toughie in this topic. I don't honestly know if I can choose one overall, and because I only really ever focus on my lips and eyes, I think I'll go for 2 different areas of the face! Is that cheating? It is? Ah well, I'm a rebel!

My 3 lipcreams and their matching liners!

Lips

For lipstick, I have raved time and time again about Essence Stay Matte lip-creams. I adore them. I have three of the four matte shades. They work for any occasion, and they're cheap as chips. Essence, in my experience make great quality products and though they may look like they're marketed to a younger demographic, they're used in some aspect by every beauty blogger at some point.

€2.49 for the lip color, and another €1.49 for the lipliner that exactly matches? Yes please, Essence, even some higher-up brands don't exactly match their lipsticks to the liners. Bravo!

Eyes

I can't say enough good things about my new favorite eye palette from NYC Cosmetics. Its a palette marketed towards those with brown eyes, but I adore it for a neutral brown/taupe look. It even comes with a primer and a highlighter! How good is that, for €4.99?!

The pigmentation and the consistency is amaze-beans for just shy of a fiver! You can find NYC in Penneys, and I urge you to get it, because despite what it says about being for brown eyes, it can be rocked by anybody!


What are your favorite brands? If you could recommend one product to me for each of my categories, what would it be? Do you believe in budget brand makeup? 

Amy,
xoxo

Colours of The Rainbow TAG!! Blog Edition

It's no secret that I love watching make-up guru's on YouTube. I love watching tutorials I know I'll never use, hauls of things I know I can't get here at home, and vlogs of lives that are far removed from my own!

Lately there's been a tag going around, and I wanna participate, but I wanna do so in blog form, because I'm far too much of a chicken to video myself and edit. I don't know the first thing about it. Maybe someday, in the future though, who knows?!

Not a crock of gold to be seen...What a sham!!

So anyway, this tag is called "Colors of The Rainbow" wherein you choose a product to correlate with each of the colors in the rainbow. As a kid I learned the colors as Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. I was never taught the "Roy G Biv" thing that all the American vloggers like Grav3yardGirl and BeautyBaby44 use!

Violet

Lets open with something I hate! I seem to always love the things I buy, but I despise this and I only used it once! Its a Rimmel London Quad palette in "01 State of Grace". I have no words, because this palette actually puts me in bad humor. Its so prone to fallout, you wouldn't believe!! Stay well away from this, I'm doing you a favor, I promise you!!

Indigo

I picked Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express as my Indigo product. This mascara has been the model of what I want a mascara to do. I'm not out for super long lashes, I'm out for a bit of lift, curl and volume. This gives me everything I want and more besides!! I already spoke about it in a June BBC post, but I will keep going on about it! It's true love Maybelline, let's go steady!! ;) I think this set me back €8.99, but I'm not sure! Less than a tenner, anyhow!


Blue

 I swore I was keeping this a secret. I wasn't going to tell anyone about this. But guilt forced me into it. This is L'Oreal Derma Genesis Pore-Minimizing Serum. I've been using this for about 3 days now and I'm obsessed! I use it over my nose and T-zone twice a day followed by my moisturiser. I found it on a clearance shelf in Tesco for a fiver last week... a FIVER!!

Green

This is my Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Spot Wand. The clear gel is for daytime use, and the thicker, more creamy looking gel is for night time. I love this stuff to bits and back again. Many spots have been stopped in their tracks by this product! Not bad for green goo, eh?! This beauty set me back €4.50 about 6 months ago and I haven't even made a small dent in it. There's value for money, if ever there was any!!

Yellow

Carmex. This yellow tube of lip healing goodness needs absolutely no introduction. It's been the saving grace of plenty in its time. I use this before bed to keep my lips hydrated overnight. In fact, many nights have been rudely interrupted when I wake to find my very beaten up tube, having forgot to apply it before I turned in for the night. I couldn't go anywhere without this, it's a staple in my life at this point! 

Orange

Before I discovered Maybelline, as shown above, I used to swear by this mascara. It's Essence Maximum Definition Volume Mascara. Now, while its half the price of Maybelline, it's still every bit as good. The wand is thin and tapered at one end, reminiscent of the Lancome Doll Eyes mascara wand, only made of rubber with short rubber bristles similar to the Maybelline wands. It's a great mascara for those on a budget, and definitely one I would return to using is The Rocket is ever discontinued! €3.49 in any good pharmacy or Penneys nationwide

Red

One day, I will stop plugging these products, (spot the LoTR fan!!) but is not this day!! Natural Collection lipstick in Crimson retails for about €3.09 in Boots, and has the most wonderful, creamy consistency!! I would easily shell out double that for something of its quality anywhere else! In fact, I find myself reaching for this over my Revlon Ultimate Suede or my Essence Stay Matte Lip Cream. Crazy, huh? I always use my Essence Lipliner in Femme Fatale, as it seems to match all my red lipsticks in some amazing stroke of fate! It retails for €1.29 and you can find it in Penneys nationwide!

Time for tagging. I'm only gonna tag 5 people, because that seems like a reasonable number. Lets hope this takes off!!

Audrey over at The Nail Affair
Lauren over at Makeup By Lauren Marie
Kayliegh over at Kayliegh Land
Suzy over at Glamour & Go
Dani over at The Glamour Nazi

I hope you enjoyed this and sure, we'll see where this goes!!

Big Smiles,
Amy
xoxo

June BBC Day 13: A Make-Up Look You Would Love to Recreate

I'm the first to admit that I have absolutely no make up talent. I can do a brown smokey eye, and black. I can wing out my eyeliner, glide on some lip colour and then I'm done. That is my ability exhausted!

But if I could, here are some looks I would love to recreate, not from a wearability stand point, but from an admiration point of view.



Warm gold, red and dramatic black!!

This gold, red and black look is so dramatic!! It screams glamour and looks as though it would befit a party in a plush, palatial manor. The shape also reminds me of the eye look worn by Natalie Portman in Black Swan. And just look at the precision of the eyeliner, the blending, the fantastically flawless skin. 

Alternative make-up is so gorgeous to me :)

Alternative Culture has fascinated me since I was young. I've always loved how daring and bold all the various kinds of Goth girls were with their eye make-up. I would love to have the cajones to rock a look like that!

I would love to have either the reason or the nads to wear either of these looks. They are beautiful in different ways, yet similar in the realm of artistic ability. 

Pin Up Sailor Girl

As far as an entire look goes, I would love to try a Pin-Up style look. The whole casual glamour of the 1950's is my idea of perfection! The red lips, the curves, the toughness paired with old style sexiness... fabulous! Someone needs to teach girls who are dieting dangerously, starving themselves, forcing themselves to throw up in a bid to be thin, that to be sexy, all you have to do is believe that you are sexy! 

Which of these looks do you prefer? Are you more of a warm red and gold, or a cool green and black type of girl?? What make-up looks would you recreate if you could? Would you have the courage to wear either of my choices? What do you think of the Pin-Up style? 

Amy,

xoxo

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters

Left-Wild Watermelon
Right- Candy Apple

As a lover of Revlon's "Just Bitten" Kissable Balm-Stain, I have to admit right now I had high expectations of the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters since they started cropping up on every blog I've ever read, though I didn't know what shade to opt for. So, last night on the Twitter chat for Irish Beauty Bloggers, I put forth the question "What Revlon lip butter would you guys recommend?" and Dani, the lovely "Glamour Nazi" answered with "If you love a red lip, go for Candy Apple".

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter
035 - Candy Apple

Armed with a name and some good reviews, I headed for Boots, where the stand had just been restocked. Huzzah!! I swatched Candy Apple, hummed in approval, and decided to go the whole hog and see if the reviews of "Wild Watermelon" were as good as the Internet sad they were... I wasn't disappointed. That had to be mine too.

I must admit I did 3 laps of all the make-up stands, swatching and dabbing, but at €11.20 each, I had maxed myself out for one trip. I suppose the problem is when you're as attached to good quality budget brands like Essence and NYC, €11.20 seems excessive, but no matter.

I've been wearing Candy Apple all day (needing only 2 reapplications because of dinner and a cuppa) and it's immensely comfy. It makes a change from the drying nature of the matte colours I adore so much. The bottom left tile, on the photo illustrating the product shows swatches after one swipe (left swatch) and multiple swipes (right swatch). Its a beautiful buildable colour. A+!

Red Lips; On a Budget!

Since yesterday I posted about how red lips were my way of drawing a veil over the past, I thought I'd post abut some products I've been eyeing, and buying!! These products are very easy on the pocket, as well as looking amazing, which has been the kicker for me, since its not about how much you spend, its about the products performing.

What follows may well be considered the blind leading the blind!! :P You have been warned!

Red Lips and The Final Chapter in my Struggle...

Most who know me will probably say I'm pretty easy to talk to, that I'm loud, bubby and always happy to see people. Well, I hope that's what they would say!! But people who know me very well know that I can be those things, but I can also be withdrawn, worrisome and obsessive when I get into a dark place...

Let me tell you a secret. The front I put up (though I don't like to call it a "front" because it doesn't have a good connotation) when I go out and interact with people is easy, breezy, confident, like I couldn't care less who says what to me or about me. And for the most part that would be true. But for the last few years I've struggled with crippling anxiety, been really sad (though not clinically depressed) and spent more than a few nights alone thinking about death. I had, at one point, a team of mental health doctors who helped me to verbalise everything every so often, and I was on a ton of medication at one point, but I've been off the tablets for a while now and everything is level without them. Life used to be a daily struggle. I was afraid. Afraid of being myself, of being weird and loud, not making sense, being too nice, being too strange, and mostly afraid of trying new things.